SOUTH CAROLINA HALL OF FAME

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1 SOUTH CAROLINA HALL OF FAME Teacher Guide

2 South Carolina Social Studies Standards Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries-A New Economic Landscape Standard 3-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and twentieth century Describe the growth of tourism and its impact on the economy of South Carolina, including the development of historic sites, state parks, and resorts and the expanding transportation systems that allow for greater access to our state. Standard 8-7: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact on South Carolina of significant events of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries Compare the social and economic impact of World War II and the Cold War on South Carolina with its impact on the rest of the United States, including the increases in the birth rate; the emergence of the consumer culture; the expanding suburbanization, highway construction, tourism and economic development, the continuing growth of military bases and nuclear power facilities; and the increases in educational opportunities.

3 Biography Born in 1876, Anna Vaughn Hyatt came from a family that supported her interest in animals and the arts. Her mother and sister were both artists. Her father was a professor of paleontology, and she developed a scientist s power of observation. In 1902 she went to New York to pursue her work but she had little formal training as a sculptor, studying for a short time at the Art Students League. She went to Paris in 1906 and became interested in Joan of Arc and a few years later she was commissioned to create a Joan of Arc for Riverside Park in New York City. It was the city s first public sculpture of a woman, by a woman and the first to depict St. Joan in proper period costume. By 1915 Anna Hyatt was an established artist making a good living; she was listed as one of ten women in America making more than $50,000 a year. She met Archer Huntington in 1921when he commissioned her to create a medal for the Hispanic Society of America, which he had founded. The following year they both served on a committee for the National Sculpture Society and the next year they were married. She was 47 and he was 53. The Huntingtons discovered Brookgreen in 1929 while they were looking for a winter home. Anna had developed tuberculosis, so they wanted to escape the cold northern winters. Initially they purchased about 6600 acres of land at Brookgreen for $225,000 and throughout the 30s they bought more parcels until they owned 9,127 acres of forest, beach and riverfront land. The Huntingtons vision for Brookgreen Gardens a place to exhibit American figurative sculpture outdoors amidst native plants and animals quickly began to materialize. Anna designed the garden in the shape of a butterfly and they opened it to the public in 1932 with her sculptures forming the core of the collection. Soon they began to include the work of other American artists. It was the first outdoor sculpture garden in the U.S. and it provided patronage to artists who had lost their patrons during the Great Depression. At the same time the Huntingtons were building a house on the oceanfront side of the Brookgreen property.

4 Made entirely of brick, it had 30 rooms facing two open courtyards, in the style of a Moorish fort, or atalaya and Atalaya became its name. Construction of the Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens supplied desperately needed jobs for the people of the Waccamaw Neck. Health care and education were also sorely lacking, especially for the black residents of the area, so the Huntingtons built a clinic and a school for African- American children on the Brookgreen property. The Huntingtons continued to add to the sculpture collection of Brookgreen Gardens while Anna carried on with her own work, modeling in clay and casting many of her sculptures in aluminum. In 1951 she installed her monumental sculpture, Fighting Stallions, at Brookgreen s front gate where it has become the signature image of the gardens. She continued to work well into her 80s and died in 1973 at the age of 97.

5 Credits South Carolina Social Studies Standard Correlations were provided by Lisa Ray The purpose of the South Carolina Hall of Fame is to recognize and honor both contemporary and past citizens who have made outstanding contributions to South Carolina's heritage and progress. Funding for Knowitall.org was provided by the S. C. General Assembly through the K-12 Technology Initiative. Visit scetv.org/education for more educational resources.